When tallying the reasons the Detroit Tigers are the overwhelming favorites to repeat as AL Central champions, you start with the presence of Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander.

Then you can factor in the arrival of Torii Hunter and the return of Anibal Sanchez. And don’t forget the emergence of Austin Jackson as an All-Star center fielder, the increased comfort of Prince Fielder in his second season in the Motor City and the rise of righthander Max Scherzer to elite status.

With so many assets, it is easy to overlook what might have been the most important development of the Tigers’ offseason. That would be the return of one of the game’s most overlooked hitters, Victor Martinez, who missed all of 2012 after blowing out his left knee in an offseason workout.

“It’s like another big free-agent pickup,” says Fielder, who found a home in Detroit only after Martinez was injured last year.

Now the Tigers have both in the middle of a batting order that, with Cabrera in the three-hole, is the most dangerous in the game.

Martinez is expected to bat after Fielder and Cabrera, a spot that the switch-hitting DH covets but calls “a little sad at the same time.”

Why’s that?

“You hope they leave something (on the bases) for you,” he says with a smile.

Considering how often Cabrera and Fielder reach base, Martinez doesn’t need to be concerned about a lack of RBI opportunities. Fielder led the majors in reaching base last season (284 times) and Cabrera was second (274). Even after subtracting all of that duo’s homers—they combined for 74—Martinez shouldn’t bat very often with the bases empty.

Few hitters take better advantage of run-producing situations, either. In his 10 major league seasons, Martinez is batting .319 with runners in scoring position, a hefty enough hike over his .303 overall average to consider him a true clutch hitter.

When asked how much the Tigers missed Martinez, one of the club’s acknowledged leaders, manager Jim Leyland cuts to the bottom line.

“He’s an outgoing guy,” Leyland says. “If he wasn’t, it wouldn't make any difference to me because he knocks in runs.”

Martinez, 34, appears primed to pick up where he left off in 2011, when he hit .330 and drove in 103 runs in his first season after signing a four-year, $50 million deal with Detroit. He has been hitting since November, reported to camp early and was off to a fast start with six hits (one a homer) in his first 18 at-bats. Martinez just was given a four-day break to make sure he doesn’t come back too fast.

Martinez still sports a brace on his left knee at times but hopes to be done with it by opening day.

“I’m not even thinking (about the knee),” he says. “Just going to do my thing.”

If Martinez were to have his way, his thing would be to be part of the lineup every day the rest of the spring and summer. He was so distraught to be sidelined last year that he spent most of the season at home in Orlando rather than with the team. Though the Tigers value his off-the-field presence nearly as much as his bat, they understood.

“When I first started in the game, I couldn’t understand why injured players wouldn’t want to be around the team,” general manager Dave Dombrowski says. “But years of experience taught me some guys have a real hard time doing that. It’s very painful for them. They don’t feel that they’re contributing. Sometimes they try to do something to speed up the healing process that they shouldn’t be doing.”

Count Martinez as one of those guys. Around the All-Star break, the Tigers still were considering a late-season return for Martinez but he started to push too hard and soon was shut down.

“He had to have a balance of strength in his (left) leg compared to his other knee and it just didn’t come back quick enough,” Dombrowski says.

By the time the Tigers reached the World Series, Martinez couldn’t watch more than an inning or so at a time.

“That part really killed me,” Martinez says. “At the end, I say hopefully God gives me another chance to be part of this team and we can make something happen.”

Of all the reasons to believe the Tigers will make even more happen in 2013, Martinez’s return is a good place to start.